Ammonium sulfate

Ammonium sulphate – (NH4) 2SO4 – nitric-sulfur mineral fertilizer. It contains 21% nitrogen and 24% sulfur. This is a chemically neutral crystalline salt of white color, readily soluble in water. Its hygroscopicity is weak, therefore, when stored for a long time it doesn’t settle and keeps flowability.

The importance of nitrogen in the vital activity of plants can’t be overestimated: it occupies the first place among mineral compounds, so let focus on the significance of sulfur in plant life. Sulfur is an important element of the nutrition of crops, like nitrogen it’s a part of proteins and amino acids. According to the physiological role in plant nutrition sulfur should be placed on the third place after nitrogen and phosphorus.

Much of the sulfur in plants is in the form of sulfuric acid salts, so ammonium sulfate is an excellent source of sulfur nutrition. Ammonium, which enters ammonium sulfate, is readily available to plants. It’s also slightly mobile and isn’t leached from the soil, which makes possible to use it widely as a basic fertilizer as well as spring top dressing.

Low sulfur content in soils can be a significant factor limiting the effectiveness of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers.
Compared to other crops, rape consumes a large amount of sulfur. Particularly good results are provided by the application of ammonium sulphate for cereals, potatoes and vegetables, including sugar beet. Most of the farms receive applicable increases in yield and quality, but few can achieve the maximum protein content in wheat grains.

Agronomists and economists need to remember that when using ammonium sulphate the lack of nitrogen and sulfur in plant nutrition is simultaneously eliminated, which significantly improves the quality of farmed products. Ammonium sulphate on chernozems positively affects crop yields and in some cases even surpasses the action of other forms of nitrogen fertilizers. Considering the fact that the retail price of ammonium sulphate is much lower than ammonium nitrate and especially urea, the advantage of economic efficiency of using ammonium sulphate is obvious. Therefore, in the foreseeable future the most feasible way of replenishing sulfur reserves in soils is the use of ammonium sulphate.